


Reclaiming Wisdom

by extrobox



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Business, Character Development, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Sex, F/M, Link is not mute, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-12 10:47:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29383683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/extrobox/pseuds/extrobox
Summary: Repetitive nightmares paired with a glowing symbol on the back of her palm. For Zelda, this was how it always went. Working for her father's tech giant, Zelda had bigger fish to fry than the nightmares that plagued her every sleeping hour. Or so she thought.
Relationships: Ganondorf/Zelda (Legend of Zelda)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 4





	1. Triforce

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Hope everyone is doing well in these...interesting times. I bring to you a LOZ fanfic that I've been planning for a bit now, and I hope that it's to your enjoyment! This is a modern-AU that is Zelda/Ganondorf endgame and centric. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy it!

_White._

_No doors, no windows._

_Just a white, blank, space._

_And then, suddenly everything seemed to fly at neck-breaking speed until there was a man suspended in the air._

_‘Someday, when this seal is broken…THAT IS WHEN I WILL EXTERMINATE YOUR DESCENDANTS!’_

**_Gasp!_ **

Shooting up straight in bed, Zelda swallowed thickly with uneven gasps of air as her eyes quickly darted around her darkened room. Quickly getting out of her bed, she rushed to the opposite end of her room and turned on the lights. She felt her heart slowly slow its race as she realized that she was the only one in her room.

Looking down to her hand, she saw the symbol on her hand blinking in its glow. How many nights will pass where she will have the same repetitive nightmare? It was always the same, she’d be in a blank space. And she’d stand there and eventually wander until she came upon a large man suspended above the ground. He appeared to be pinned in place while bellowing his curses. She could never see his face, but his voice very clear each time. And then it ended. The symbol on her hand always appeared to glow right after when she woke up, no other time. She concluded long ago that they were connected somehow, but for what reason, she did not know. Ever since she came of age and the dreams started to occur, she found out one morning that her hand was glowing with golden triangles on her hand.

And by the looks of the man’s face in the dream, she wasn’t quite sure if she wanted to find out what its purpose was. Each time she had the nightmare it seemed to get more intense, even though it was the same reoccurring scene time and time again.

Looking at her clock, she groaned at the time.

4:22am.

She needed to get some paperwork together for a presentation today regardless. Might as well go downstairs and make coffee and start her day. Some would consider Zelda married to work, she called it dedication and hard work. That’s why she was made project lead on her current team. She heard the whispers of jealousy, claiming it to be nepotism since her father was the owner of Hyrule Technologies. He wasn’t just the owner realistically, it was his business that he started a long, long time ago.

When her mother was still alive.

Zelda sighed, glancing over at her dresser where a single family portrait sat in an oak wood frame. She didn’t have very vivid memories of her mother as she passed away while she was still young, but she felt the warmth and love whenever she thought of her. And that was enough for Zelda.

Realizing she was standing in the middle of her room in her pyjamas, Zelda shook off the remainder of sleep and her nightmare and proceeded to get on with her morning.

* * *

The building that Hyrule Technologies resided in was always in a bustle. Sun glittered through the glass windows as Zelda walked inside, greeting various individuals as she went. Coming up to the receptionists' desk she spotted Impa working away. Impa was one of her closest friends inside and outside of work, and one of the earliest employees that worked here. A bit older than she was, but they still got along like quirky teenagers and giggled like time too sometimes.

“Impa! Good morning.”

Impa looked over her desk, smiling instantly at the sight of her friend making her approach. Zelda always brought sunshine and light wherever she went. It was hard not to smile when you saw her.

“Zelda! Always nice to see you.”

Zelda came to a stop in front of Impa’s desk, switching hands that her briefcase was being held in.

“Anything I should be aware of?”

Impa looked down to the large calendar that was splayed across her desk, eyes wandering the days. She then looked to her computer before giving her a reply.

“Nothing that directly involves you, your father has several meetings today.” Zelda nodded, waving goodbye before continuing on her way towards her office. She always made the habit of going to visit her father before going to her office which was further down the hall from his. Something felt…different though. Stepping into the elevator, she clicked for the 8th floor and leaned against the wall with her briefcase in both of her hands.

The elevator made several stops along the way, which was to be expected. The elevator made a final stop at the 6th floor, and Zelda shifted over to let the newest strangers onto the lift. Zelda fiddled with the handle of her briefcase and casually looked up, coming face to face with the most intense and baleful glare she ever witnessed.

A group of four men stepped into the lift, the middle man significantly larger and vastly more intimidating than the rest. She had never seen them before…were they here to see her father? She definitely never seen the man glaring at her though, for the long red hair and defined nose would never be forgettable.

_THAT IS WHEN I WILL EXTERMINATE YOUR DESCENDANTS!_

Zelda shifted uncomfortably on her feet, still feeling the intense glare boring holes into the side of her face. She never felt so uncomfortable and wanted off the lift as soon as possible. As soon as the lift hit the 8th floor, Zelda sped off and made her way to her father’s office with haste.

_Knock, knock!_

“Enter.”

Zelda rushed in, in a huff and closed the door behind her quickly. Her father looked up from his desk skeptically, seeing his daughter rush into his office completely flustered. He placed the paperwork in his hand down as he regarded his daughter.

“Something wrong Zelda?”

Zelda tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her pointed ear, shaking her head as she stepped towards his desk and took a seat across from him.

“I think the cream I added to my coffee this morning was off, is all.”

Rhoam continued to regard his daughter with skepticism, looking back to his paperwork, and sighed, a hand idly playing with the white hair of his beard.

“We have a new company wanting to partner with us. Should be here momentarily. Since you’ll eventually be our CEO, why don’t you sit in for one of my business negotiations?” Zelda straightened in her seat, a smile spreading across her lips. “Really father?!” Rhoam nodded, his face all business as voices came to the other side of the door. Both Zelda and her father looked to the door, knowing that they have arrived.

Zelda got up from her seat, moving to her father’s side of the desk and placed her briefcase on the floor before moving to stand just a fraction behind him as her father stood from his desk.

“You may enter!”

The door opened, and suddenly Zelda felt so small, wanting to melt into a puddle on the floor as she once again was face to face with the same man who for some reason felt it was necessary to glare at her so hard she thought she might combust into flame. She was now surrounded by sharks, businessmen who were ruthless in negotiation. She could not show weakness here or it would make her father look weak.

It was silent for a few moments, the red-haired man looking from Zelda to her father.

“Rhoam. This is a business negotiation, not social hour.”

“Indeed, please take a seat Ganondorf. This is my daughter Zelda, she’ll eventually be in my position, so I thought it a good idea for her to sit in today.”

Zelda forced a smile upon her lips, bowing lightly. “A pleasure to meet you.” The smile vanished as quickly as the man opened his mouth, ignoring her completely to look at her father instead.

“Children do not mix with business, Rhoam. Let us begin.”

Zelda’s mouth dropped open, outrage stinging the tip of her tongue as words threatened to spill. She felt her cheeks heating up in her rage, holding her tongue as she pursed her lips. The other men situated around this Ganondorf continued to sit behind him stone-faced, were they always this grim?

Her father cleared his throat, bringing a pile of paperwork forward and the meeting began.

* * *

Two hours into the meeting, there was an intermission. Zelda never felt so relieved as she excused herself to use the washroom and grab herself another coffee. She still couldn’t believe the audacity of the man! To call her a child while in her father’s presence. She was far from a child in fact, why would he even call her such a thing?

She was quietly fuming as she approached the kitchen, comically coming to an abrupt halt as the same man stood alone in the kitchen. She peeked her head around the corner and saw that his back was now facing her. Swallowing thickly, Zelda concluded that she will not let this man intimidate her so. Straightening herself and making sure her work pants were free of wrinkles, Zelda strode into the kitchen with her chin in the air. She didn’t even come into view and the tension in the room was already to the roof.

Just before she did come into view, her symbol began glowing again. She furrowed her brow at it, staring at her hand. She had never seen her hand glowing outside of her room, and right after a dream at that.

Lost in her own thoughts, staring at her hand, she didn’t realize Ganondorf was turning around. Just as he noticed she was there, she quickly put her glowing hand behind her back. Ganondorf narrowed his eyes at the girl, and she smiled nervously, feeling her lip twitching.

“Just…trying to get to the coffee machine!” Zelda laughed awkwardly, trying to shuffle her way around the mountain of a man without him seeing her freakish, glowing hand. He didn’t say anything, swiftly moving past Zelda and leaving the kitchen. Once again alone, Zelda let out a loud sigh of relief as she looked around, making sure that nobody was in the kitchen with her before looking at her glowing hand. It had stopped glowing? A faint outline of triangles was all that was left on her hand.

Why was it glowing before though?

Realizing that she didn’t have all the time in the world, she quickly went to work on making a coffee before returning to her father’s office.

* * *

Ganondorf strode down the hall back to Rhoam’s office, people giving him space as he walked past. This timeline made no sense. They were still in Hyrule, but it was a vastly different era than all the previous times. That was _definitely Zelda_ and her father, the King of Hyrule. It appeared that they had no idea who he was. Did their memories not awaken? The Triforce responded to his presence when she walked into the kitchen, but she appeared puzzled by its presence.

 _No matter,_ he concluded as he spotted members of the Yiga standing by waiting for him. They bowed at his appearance, Ganondorf’s expression darkening as he approached Rhoam’s office door. Eventually, Hyrule Technologies will belong to him, and he’d be damned if he’ll let Rhoam’s precious bratty daughter get in the way of it. The Hero had yet to make his appearance, and that was better for him. It was evident that Zelda hadn’t awakened her previous memories, she didn’t even know what the Triforce was. There was only one way to awaken her memories and he’ll make sure that never happened.

Ganondorf swore on it.


	2. The Hero

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Here we are with chapter 2! The story is starting to pick up slowly now... :) 
> 
> Enjoy!

Zelda for the most part of the day was able to keep herself busy with work that needed to be done after the meeting with her father and her own presentation with her project team. She still didn’t understand why her symbol was glowing earlier in the day, refusing to let anybody see it. She put on a glove over the hand, lest it started glowing with people around. That was the last thing she needed.

Tapping away rapidly at her laptop, she didn’t even realize that she was no longer alone in her office until a large shadow eclipsed her entirely. She looked up, then looked back to her laptop, then quickly looking back with wide eyes.

“Woman, your father sent me along with the paperwork to get them copied and sent off.”

Zelda was at a loss for words as her hands had frozen over her black keyboard. Her mouth was agape, once again face to face with this stranger that she only had met several hours ago. He really seemed to dislike her, for what reason, she didn’t know. Regaining composure, she narrowed her eyes at the businessman. He really seemed to want to intimidate her as her father’s daughter. Well, no suit and tie was going to frighten her, regardless of who they were.

“I have a name, I’d appreciate it if you’d use it.” Zelda quipped with a blank look on her face. What was it with this man?

“You speak as if I care. Here’s the paperwork.”

Zelda couldn’t believe that this was actually happening. What a brute! Honestly! Zelda scoffed, moving to stand at her feet.

“Well, you can return to my father and tell him that I have no need to speak to people with no manners. Maybe it’s about time you learn some. Leave.” Zelda pointed to her ajar office door.

 _Impudent woman!_ Ganondorf glared at Zelda with all he had. She had no idea how much hate he had for her, eons had passed, and she was still the same. He hated that. He hated her, hated her father, hated that damned knight of hers! A hatred that he had felt for an eternity. Curse them all!

Noticing that he wasn’t leaving, Zelda arched a brow as her hand was still pointed towards the door. Her office was starting to fill with awkward tension, poisoning her pleasant office atmosphere. Zelda opened her mouth to speak once more but was interrupted by a knock on her door. Both Zelda and Ganondorf looked to the door, seeing Impa peeking her head inside, not realizing what she had just walked in on.

“Uh…pardon me Zelda, but your interview is here.”

Zelda pinched the bridge of her nose. “Yes, thank you, Impa. I’ll be there in just a moment.”

Impa nodded, looking curiously at the man in her office before she vanished from sight. Focusing on the situation at hand, Zelda looked back to Ganondorf.

“If it gets you to leave, leave the paperwork here and I’ll be sure that it’s done by the end of today. If you’ll excuse me-”

“You’ll do it now.”

Okay, now he was pushing it.

“Listen here, I don’t know who you think you are that you can talk to like that. I gave you two options, you take one or the other, or you can just pack all your things and leave because quite frankly I have no time or patience for rude people like you.” Zelda moved to make her way to the door but found her exit barred by Ganondorf who stood in her way.

“Move!” Zelda tried to push her way forward but didn’t want any form of contact with the brutish man. His imposing figure loomed over her, amber eyes glaring at her maliciously.

Finally, he did, and Zelda returned his hateful glare as she left her office, leaving him behind. Had this been another era, he would have simply killed them all and be done with it. But things in this era had to have more of a…deft touch. If he wanted to have control of Hyrule Technologies and by extension, having control of most of Hyrule in itself, things had to be done a bit more discreetly. It went against everything he stood for! It disgusted him. He looked down to his meaty knuckles, seeing the top piece of the Triforce glowing. Did Zelda truly not have any idea who he was? The three of them, time and time again were reincarnated as chosen ones by the Goddesses. The same cycle repeating itself, but perhaps this time around was the time that things would be different; maybe the tides would turn in his favour! Zelda would remain ignorant and the Hero won’t manifest at all.

Taking a step towards Zelda’s desk, he placed the paperwork there, spotting a framed picture on her desk. She was standing in a dark blue robe, smiling brightly alongside her father. She held a large sheet of paper in her hands and was wearing an odd square-shaped hat. Ganondorf sneered to himself, disgusted by the entirety of it. He turned swiftly on his heel and exited her office promptly. Stepping out into the hall, two Yiga men stood at the door. Ganondorf gestured with his hand towards the elevators.

“Follow her. Tell me everything.”

Both men nodded, clasping their hands together and vanished from sight.

* * *

 _I’m really going to have to talk to father about that man… There is something definitely off about him._ Zelda stepped out of the elevator, walking across the lobby towards Impa’s desk to meet her interviewee. Making sure her hair was proper, she approached Impa’s desk.

“Where did you send my candidate, Impa?”

Impa gestured to the seating area, and Zelda turned and spotted one young man sitting there. He appeared to have a cane with him. Zelda turned fully and made her approach to the blonde man. As soon as she came within earshot, the man looked in her direction. His expression was flat and serious for a moment before a smile spread across his lips. He rose to his feet, using the armrests for support and then grabbing his cane, using his free hand to shake Zelda’s hand.

“Miss Zelda, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

Zelda smiled warmly in return, returning the handshake. “The pleasure is all mine, can I get your name please?”

“It’s Link.”

Link.

_Link._

Zelda paused for a moment, a thoughtful expression on her face. That name sounded so familiar, as if she should already know him. Realizing that she was staring like an idiot, Zelda shook her head, now probably looking flustered.

“I apologize.” She cleared her throat, “We can do the interview here instead if it’ll be easier for you. My office is several floors up.”

Link raised his hand in protest, gesturing for her to lead the way. Zelda smiled, turning on her heel and escorting him to the elevators. For a man so young, it was unfortunate to see him in such a state. Impa smiled in kind to the both of them as they passed her desk. Just as they did, the elevator opened, revealing Ganondorf who was clearly leaving the building. A deep scowl formed on Zelda’s face as they passed, cursing as the doors closed, now having to wait for the elevator to make its return to the ground floor again. That asshole didn’t even say bye or anything, what was his problem?! It made absolutely no sense to her whatsoever. Zelda let out an exaggerated huff as she rolled her eyes, looking to Link. Link’s face was a stark contrast to what it was previously, a deadly calm in his gaze that almost looked dangerous.

“Is something wrong, Link? Was it that man? Did he look at you weird? He’s been giving me problems earlier as well and I definitely need to mention it to my-”

“Stay away from him.”

“-W-what?”

Link’s blue eyes shifted to Zelda, he almost looked like a different person. She cocked her head at him, confused. Did Link know Ganondorf? She didn’t know if Ganondorf looked at him, as she was busy trying to avoid his gaze entirely. Zelda swallowed thickly as the elevator dinged in front of them, trying to disperse the awkward tension that had washed the pleasant professional atmosphere away. Gesturing for Link to follow, they both stepped into the elevator, the doors closing quietly behind them.

* * *

“Raaaaagh!”

Two members of the Yiga had seconds to dodge a chair that was tossed in their direction, crashing into the wall behind them. The two assassins looked at each other, then to their master who was breathing harshly, rage etched all over his face. He looked to the two underlings, his breathing going silent. Ganondorf’s red mane making him look like an otherworldly entity entirely, paired with the harsh lines of fury clearly evident. 

“Leave.”

Both men couldn’t have moved more quickly.

Ganondorf did not expect this at all. He should have realistically, but he wasn’t expecting it to happen so soon. But something was different about this reincarnation of the Hero; he was crippled. He didn’t even have his sword! He was no match for him at full power, even if he wielded the Triforce of Courage. Zelda clearly wielded the Triforce of Wisdom, but wisdom was not with her completely. Her memories were utterly fractured, making her an anomaly in the cycle.

He couldn’t help but wonder why that was the case this time around. The Hero recognized him as soon as he stepped off the elevator and did nothing to hold back his hate as Ganondorf walked past the pair of nuisances. He almost wanted Link to try attacking him, he would break his legs off one by one before ending him completely. It occurred to him that the Hero appeared to be holding back. Was it because the princess didn’t remember?

Wait a moment.

Zelda was no princess, not in this era. She was a civilian, albeit a rich one. Ganondorf assumed that she technically was royalty, but she instead was next in line chosen by her father to head Hyrule Technologies.

Ganondorf was still breathing heavily through his nose as he paced around his small office, most of the furniture and other objects in ruin from his fury. He came to a stop in front of the small fireplace, flames reflecting in his glare. As long as Zelda was ignorant of the truth, he could still move freely. The Hero likely put himself at Zelda’s side to be there when she awakened her memories.

But this time will be different. He will succeed, and they will fail.

* * *

Zelda exhaled loudly as she collapsed into her office chair, not moving as she stared at the ceiling, Link’s application still in her hand. His interview went well past her expectations, impressing her with his knowledge and research of the company and his work ethic. He’ll be a great asset to the team. There was only one other person that had applied internally for the position, and that was Revali in marketing. He had expressed his interest on multiple occasions when she came across him on the property, and she was not looking forward to telling him that he was not getting the position. She wasn’t a fan of sending rejection letters or anything of the sort, but that was business.

Zelda’s attention went to the stack of papers left on her desk. Displeasure seeped into her veins, recalling her previous encounter with Ganondorf. He had some serious resentment against her; was it because she was her father’s daughter? Did he just hate women? She had no idea, but she was going to make it her personal goal to avoid him whenever she could. Zelda combed her fingers through her hair in an attempt to calm her nerves. She needed to get this paperwork done and send it off, make copies for her father and Ganondorf and file them away. This was exhausting, and usually, she was good at dealing with tough businessmen, but this was different completely. The animosity was clearly directed right at her and she definitely needed to bring it up with her father before she let herself get sidetracked again.

Just as she was about to kick off her obnoxious pumps, there was a single knock at the door, the single knock alone telling her that it was her father.

“Come in!” She called as she straightened herself at her desk. She didn’t need her father to see her slouched over like a mole at work. She had to continue working hard and showing her father that she was capable of someday running the family business.

In came her father, silent as he approached her desk, a parallel from the morning with her sitting across his desk instead.

“I’m actually glad you came in papa, I wanted to bring something to your attention…”

“Before you do that Zelda, I gave something lots of thought and I decided today is the day.”

Zelda’s train of thought came to a stuttering halt as she stared at her father, trying to come to a reasonable conclusion to what he was slowly getting at. So she continued to stare at her father like a gaping fish.

“Stop that Zelda, take this seriously would you?”

Zelda shook her head, schooling her expression to a neutral one. “Go on father, I’m all ears.”

“I’m sure Ganondorf came down at some point with the finalized paperwork?”

“Yes, actually I-” Zelda tried to get in but was cut off again. Her father shifted in his chair, sounding rather excited which was a rare thing for her to see.

“Good, I’m officially putting you in charge of your first official project. You’ll be working with him to make sure the transition is seamless and that all the finer wrinkles are ironed out. I feel like you’re ready to finally take on your own project as you’ve shown me many times leading up to now.”

Zelda was internally screaming on the top of a mountain. This was the exact opposite of how she wanted this conversation to go down. Her, working with that _thing_ called a man?! He was oafish, crude, and clearly did not have an ounce of respect for her let alone _any_ woman.

Her father sat there quietly, waiting on her daughter's reply.

“Zelda?” He questioned, the crinkles at the edges of his eyes vanishing as concern came into focus.

“I…Uh…”

Rhoam arched a brow, questioningly.

Zelda forced a smile on her lips once again, hiding her internal emotions.

“I’m so happy you asked father, I am very much looking forward to this opportunity. And I’m grateful that you trust me enough to take on this responsibility.”

 _Hogwash!_ She wanted to wash her mouth out with soap and them vomit. Not necessarily in that order, either.

Rhoam smiled, rising to his feet. “Good, I’m glad that’s all settled then. He’ll be returning again tomorrow, and I’ll send him your way.” He moved to make his exit but turned to his daughter once more. “Oh, what was it you wanted to mention?”

Zelda pursed her lips. There was no way she could tell him now. She shook her head, smiling tightly. “It’s nothing to concern yourself with, papa. I’m just about to tackle that paperwork now.”

Rhoam nodded, turning, and making his exit. Zelda waited until her door was fully shut before slamming her forehead against the desk, groaning in pain, and whining in despair.

_Why me?!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Please feel free to leave your thoughts below!


	3. Attack of the Yiga

Zelda tried on most occasions to not be the last one leaving the office for the night. The day was just so mentally exhausting it took her longer to finish things up for the day. She took her time walking to the elevator that led her down to the underground parking lot. Clicking the ‘P’ button she mentally checked out as soon as the doors closed, leaning her forehead against the cool metal walls of the shaft.

All she wanted to do was go home, have a warm cup of tea, and read one of the crappy brain-rotting novels that she owned in abundance. She was exhausted, and she was done. Before her father left she handed off Link’s applicant papers for processing before she called him in for orientation and all the joyous things that came with training new hires.

_Ding!_

Zelda’s shoes clicked quietly against the concrete floor of the parking garage as she crossed the empty lot to her lonesome car.

Zelda felt a draft against her back, turning around, eyes scanning the lot suspiciously. Was someone in here as well? That wasn’t possible though as there were no other cars in the lot. She quickened her pace, bringing her briefcase up towards her so she could take her car keys out. That was when she heard footsteps approaching her.

Dreading to look over her shoulder, she let out a shriek and dashed the last couple of feet towards her car. There were four men stalking towards her, and as soon as she did turn to make the dash a long sword came whizzing past her face to lodge into her car handle. Zelda’s eyes widened in terror, this was it, wasn’t it? Some assassins have tracked her down for her money and were going to kill her now, all alone in this dingy-looking garage beneath her work. All her hard work and progress would now officially go down the drain at the hands of these unknown killers.

She quickly turned, back facing the side of her car. She pressed her briefcase closer to her chest, in a futile attempt at putting a barrier between herself and them. Unbeknownst to her, the symbol on her hand started to radiate a faint glow.

“W-what is it that you want? Money? Is that it? Wouldn’t it be easier for you to just take me as a ransom instead of killing me?” Was she truly going to die here and now? This felt so wrong, she had so many things to do, goals she had set for herself. It wasn’t fair! She watched only in horror as another longsword was drawn on her, ready to either stab her or cleave her in half.

Squeezing her eyes shut, she waited for the final blow, clutching her work to her chest. Only that it never came, instead she heard a startled yelp and a crashing noise. Cracking her eyes open behind her briefcase, her eyes widened at what she saw.

_Ganondorf?!_

She watched in almost a trance as he seamlessly took one of the assassins and threw him at the wall like a sack of potatoes. Feeling like she was in one of her nightmares once more, her legs began to tremble before losing all their strength, sending her sliding to the floor in disbelief. What the hell was happening?

Zelda could only continue to watch as apparently, Ganondorf took care of the assassins as if it were his day-job. Knocking out the last of them with a chop to the head, it was quiet in the underground lot once more. Zelda’s eyes scoured up the imposing Gerudo man, his dark skin giving him an almost eerie appearance in the dim-lit garage.

She didn’t know what to make of any of this, none of it made sense. She was just waiting for the nightmare to end and then she’ll wake up in her bed at some ungodly hour in the night.

Only that didn’t happen. Instead, Ganondorf spoke.

“Irresponsible, aren’t we girl?”

Zelda almost sputtered out her response, eyes blinking in disbelief before her mouth moved. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t make it a habit of trying to get assassinated in underground garages. Where did you even come from? You left earlier today, I saw you go.” Zelda knew inside that she had to thank him one way or another, for if he didn’t intervene she would be dead, and nobody would have seen it coming or know who did it.

Ganondorf’s eyes shifted to Zelda who was still sitting on the floor. “I forgot something earlier, I was just returning to retrieve it. I was on my way out when I saw you getting cornered. Can’t let my newest negotiation go down the drain because I let _his_ precious daughter die.”

“Glad to know I matter so much,” Zelda muttered under her breath as she got to her feet, knees protesting in pain while leaving her briefcase on the floor. She looked to her car and the longsword still lodged into her door. She tried pulling it out, the handle only slipping in her grasp. She tried again, cursing the thing. She looked over to the only other person with her, seeing him with his back turned to her already and was walking away.

“H-hey! Wait! I need help still!” She looked back to her car, pointing at it. “My car!” He didn’t even want to hear her thanks?

“That is out of my range of expertise pr-” Ganondorf bit his tongue, holding the words that came so naturally to him. “-Girl.” Zelda’s lips formed into an ‘o’, mind still reeling from all of this. She tried to keep up with him, but his much longer strides gave him an advantage at a faster pace.

“Do you not even want my thank you? You literally saved my life just now!”

_I did not, princess, it was merely to get myself in your good books. Nor do I want to make myself so obvious, especially with the Hero now in the picture. But I’m sure my men would have gladly killed you if I weren’t around. You didn’t even notice your own Triforce glowing, did you? Regardless, I’ll entertain your frivolousness._

Ganondorf stopped in his tracks, not even bothering to look at Zelda. Zelda collided with his back, quickly backing up to look up at him. Seeing that he wasn’t going to turn to face her, Zelda walked around his lumbering figure and looked up at his face.

“I offer my sincerest thanks. My father will be most pleased to hear that you saved me.”

_See?_

“I feel like we got off to the wrong foot, I really didn’t mean to give you any ill impressions of me. Let’s start over. My name is Zelda. It’s nice to meet you.” She stuck out her hand, and Ganondorf looked at it, noticing that the glow of the Triforce had faded, and then to Zelda’s face. Ganondorf then turned away and kept on walking. Zelda looked at her abandoned hand, flabbergasted.

“H-hey! What’s the big idea?!”

“Go home, girl. It’s not safe after dusk.”

Zelda came to a slow halt, watching the taller man’s retreating figure. She raised her hand, trying to stop him but realizing it was a futile attempt. _I won’t be getting far without my car…_

Zelda turned on her heel, walking back towards her car with hunched shoulders. This is not how she wanted to start her weekend…

Blue eyes watched the scene unfold and conclude silently. Link stood around the corner that led to the second ramp of the parking garage, one of the Yiga men at his feet unconscious. Nobody had noticed him taking out one of the men before Ganondorf had even intervened. Calculating eyes sternly watched the Demon King retreat after seemingly saving Zelda. Something definitely was amiss here, and Link was glad he found Zelda before Ganondorf tried anything else. He didn’t know why Ganondorf was trying to play into Zelda’s good books, but it didn’t look good.

Link eased his grip on his cane, shifting on his feet, as he no longer had to intervene further. This would have been much easier if he could move freely. It at least appeared that Ganondorf was also trying to keep his real identity hidden from Zelda.

He was definitely going to find out why.

* * *

Ganondorf stopped just outside of the underground lot, looking around. The streets were empty, and the sun was long gone. This modern world was something he still had to grow accustomed to. The only things that remained the same were the titles and names of regions from what his research told him. When he first regained his past memories, he had a really hard time adjusting. But that had been years ago now.

For years he had been waiting for this moment, and his patience was finally coming to fruition. He still found it curious that Zelda had awakened her piece of the Triforce, but her memories had not. There must have been something blocking her or preventing her from awakening them. He started walking down the sidewalk that led to a set of street lights. This era had a sense of civility compared to his previous lifetimes. Things were more organized, had more structure. He definitely couldn’t just go around attacking as he pleased, as much as he would like to.

The friendly demeanour that Zelda was showing him was entirely unfamiliar to him and frankly made him uncomfortable. He wanted to cackle right in her face when she attempted to slow him down with her petty words. No previous Zelda would ever do such a thing, let alone try to start a conversation and extend any courtesy at all. What would her precious Hero think of her, consorting with the devil incarnate?

“Hey!!!”

Speaking of which…Why won’t the blasted woman leave him alone?! He was starting to prefer when she and Link were always to kill him. 

“Didn’t I tell you to go home? Not seek out strangers?”

Zelda came to a stop at his side, resting her hands and briefcase on her knees as she caught her breath. “Well, I’m definitely not driving home with a broken door. It’ll get towed in the morning, I just need to get to the Kakariko bus stop up the street that’ll take me home.” Zelda brushed her blonde hair away from her face as she huffed, straightening herself.

“So why bother me then? It should be obvious that I want nothing to do with you.”

Zelda scoffed, putting her free hand on her hip while rolling her eyes. “Well whether you like it or not you did save my life back there. Plus my father put me in charge of your company’s transition. So we’ll be working together a lot more in the future.”

Ganondorf paused. _Rhoam did what?_

He turned on the Princess, oh blast it to hell with trying to correct himself every time, it was what he was used to calling her because that’s what she was.

“The last thing I need is a little girl like you helping the likes of me. Get out of my face with your trivial statements!”

“I’m not little, stop being so rude! Even after I tried being kind to you, you still find the need to be brutish as always!” Ganondorf resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he turned and kept on walking. Zelda didn’t cease though. No, she kept on trying to talk to him instead.

“You could at least escort a lady to the bus shelter since you so clearly told me twice already to not be wandering on my own.”

_Why didn’t I just let the Yiga kill her? It would have been so much easier._

At receiving silence, Zelda hmph’d and kept on walking. “It’s not even far, just past the street lights.” She grumbled as silence washed over the pair. The man was confusing to Zelda. Saving her life and then acting indifferent about her. They crossed the street, Zelda coming to a stop. She watched as Ganondorf kept on walking, not acknowledging that she stopped. Zelda sighed, turning on her heel as she approached the bus stop, checking the time on her phone in the process. When she got home all her hopes and dreams of having a calm night would vanish as she’ll have to call her father and explain what happened tonight. Curiously, she looked over her shoulder and saw an empty street corner. She smiled bitterly, turning back to her phone, minding her own business once more.

Link watched from afar, concealed by the shadow of a tree, with his eyes furrowed in confusion. This wasn’t making any sense to him. Out of all their past lives, he couldn’t recall for the life of him a time where Zelda and Ganondorf were acting _civilized_ together. Watching these events unfold almost made him cringe in revulsion. This was not something that he’ll let come to pass, regardless of how much Ganondorf had manipulated her. Ganondorf wielded the Triforce of Power, and will always oppose Wisdom and Courage. His intuition was telling him that Ganondorf was up to his usual no good, all he had to wait for was Zelda to awaken her power and memories of the past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!


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